


Just Breathe

by Passions



Series: Just Breathe 'Verse [1]
Category: California Solo (2012), Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-02
Updated: 2013-06-02
Packaged: 2017-12-13 17:49:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/827102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Passions/pseuds/Passions
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Belle, working at her University's library, meets a famous man she hasn't heard of and takes a greater interest in him than she would have expected. (This universe is separate from my other California Solo Universe.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Breathe

“Belle!” Tony came running into the small local library where Belle worked part time to help pay her University tuition and bent over the desk. “You’ll never guess who I just saw!”

Belle smiled at him and wrinkled her nose. “No I probably won’t. Who was it?”

“Lachlan MacAldonich!”

Belle just stared at him, confused.

“Oh, come on! The Cranks? Classic Brit-Pop!”

Belle tilted her head and grinned at her tall, lanky friend. “When was the last time you heard me listen to anything like that?”

The red-head groaned like she had stabbed him. “They were awesome! He was awesome! He played guitar for The Cranks and now he’s just across the bloody street, Belle!”

Belle laughed. “Well, that’s lovely, Tony. What’s he doing across the street?” 

“The music shop over there. The one attached to the sound studio. Looks like he’s working there now.”

“Why is he working if he was a rock star? I thought the point of being a rock star was that you made tons of money.”

Tony actually glared at her for that. Apparently that explanation wasn’t appealing to her aspiring musician of a best friend. “The point is the music Belle! Feeling it. Living it. Being so consumed by it that you have to give it out to other people or you’d explode!” He stood up straight and looked down his nose at Belle, though the austere look was a bit ruined by his hair flopping into his face. “Besides Belle,” he said solemnly, “Young people are hardly known for their money management skills.” He shrugged, dropping the professorly persona as Belle giggled. “Even if he did keep all his money, a bloke can work if he wants to, even if he doesn’t have to. And the band broke up more than fifteen years ago. Just after the lead singer died. Maybe he doesn’t have any money.”

Belle frowned. “That’s terrible. About the singer, I mean. To have to stop doing something you love because of losing a friend.”

Tony shook his head. “Singer was Lachlan’s brother. He’s lived in the States ever since it happened. There was a bit of a kerfuffle when he finally came back to Scotland a couple of months ago.”

Belle was looking at him in horror. “He lost his brother while they were away from home and he hasn’t been back since?” She didn’t even know the man but she couldn’t stop her heart from aching for him. Losing her mother when she was sixteen had been incredibly difficult, but she couldn’t imagine going through it without her family. Without a support network. She hoped he was okay, this ex-rock star.

Tony just shrugged off her question and moved onto a more important topic - where they were going to go for lunch. Belle sighed deeply. She loved Tony, he was the first friend she had made when she got to the University of Glasgow three years ago and he was still her best friend, but sometimes - most of the time if she was honest - his conversational skills left a lot to be desired.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony’s enthusiasm had admittedly left Belle more than a bit interested in the musician apparently working across the street, but since he hadn’t deigned to continue his rambling about the man, Belle took it upon herself to research him. 

After she had shelved all of the returned books waiting for her when she got back from lunch, Belle spent some time searching the internet for him on her computer at the front desk. Someone cleared their throat across from her to get her attention and she nearly fell off of her chair when she looked up to find the man from her computer screen looking at her bemusedly. She blushed deeply and clicked away from the page, pretending she hadn’t just been caught looking at pictures of some celebrity she didn’t know by said celebrity himself.

“Hello.” She tried to smile enthusiastically, but it came off more strained than anything. “Is there something I can help you with?”

The man on the other side of the checkout desk grinned. “Aye. I was lookin’ for any books ye migh’ have on the history of music or musicians.” Belle nodded and typed some things into the computer, writing down a few of the call numbers when they came up and handing the slip of paper to him, shivering and pulling her hand away quickly when he brushed his fingers against hers.

She struggled to regulate her breathing. He was really far too handsome. According to the short biography she’d just read, Lachlan MacAldonich would be forty-one in four months - June. He’d be a good looking man anyways, but for forty-one he was amazing. 

His smile was bright and warm and reached all the way to his soft, deep brown eyes. His skin was tanned which made sense considering he’d apparently spent the last fifteen years in California. His hair was long enough to brush against his shoulders, light brown streaked through with grey at his temples, and that probably shouldn’t have been as much of a turn on for her as it was. The dark-wash jeans and fitted black jumper he was wearing showed off his lean strength to perfection. He was a small man, but distinctly larger than her, his shoulders and chest fairly broad … Belle immediately chastised herself for thinking of him in relation to herself in any way. What he looked like compared to her didn’t matter. It wasn’t like they would ever date or anything.

She cleared her throat. “Those - uhm,” she pointed at the paper in his hands, “Those numbers will correspond to the numbers on the shelves and the books themselves. I’ve given you a few different sections to look in, but there should be a number of books that might be useful in each section. If there’s anything you - uh - need help with, I’ll be here.”

Why did he look so happy at that prospect? He grinned and nodded at her before heading into the stacks. She was glad of finally being able to take a proper breath as she buried herself back in reshelving and signing out books, working hard to ignore any thoughts of the man who was now occupying far too much of her mind. 

Belle understoof the concept of charisma, of magnetism, but she hadn’t properly understood when any of her friends spoke of being … captivated by someone. She understood now though. Lachlan MacAldonich was a lodestone and she was only a very tiny piece of iron, drawn to him in some heavy way she had no idea how to resist. But resist it she must.

~~~~~~~~~~~

She got nearly an hour’s reprieve while he was off looking for books, but then he was back and she was back to being nothing but a bundle of nerves.

He grinned disarmingly at her as he lay his stack of books down on the counter.

“Just these ones, if tha’s alright.”

She nodded. “Do you have a library card?”

He shook his head and grinned. “Do I need one?”

“Yeah.” She coughed to clear her throat. “I - uh - I can’t sign them out to you otherwise.”

He smiled and crossed his arms on top of the counter, leaning forward and lowering his voice slightly. “Could ye help me wi’ tha’?”

Belle considered her two second recovery time from that to be quite a victory. He was bloody distracting enough as it was, but with his voice pitched low like that he was practically oozing sex and dammit! She really needed to get laid if this was how she was going to act around any man she came across. Finally she managed a stuttering nod at him and pulled the necessary forms out of a near-by drawer, laying them out on the counter in front of him.

“Do ye have a pen I could use?” He asked.

Belle blushed deeply and grabbed the one she typically used to make note of call numbers. She averted her eyes as he smiled brightly at her. As he set to work on the forms Belle scolded herself for her reactions. She had never been this anxious in front of anyone, and certainly not just because she found someone attractive. But here she was. By the time he had the forms completed she had managed to still any trembling in her hands and look at him without blushing.

She finished getting his card sorted and the books checked out, glancing at him only a few times throughout the process. When she finally had everything completed she slid the books back across to him, carefully avoiding touching him as he picked them up, smiling at her.

“I’m sorry. I didnae catch yer name, miss.” He moved one hand away from his books to hold it out to her.

She couldn’t help gulping as she took his hand and shook it. “Belle. Belle French.”

He grinned devilishly and brought her hand up to his lips, pressing a warm, dry kiss to her knuckles as her heart fluttered madly in her chest. “I’m Lachlan. Lachlan MacAldonich.” She nodded and he released her hand. “I’ll be seeing you. Belle.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And he did. He showed up every week. Twice every week, actually. Belle only worked half of the week, from Friday to Monday. Tuesdays through Thursdays she focused on school. It seemed like Lachlan had figured that out, since none of her colleagues mentioned seeing him when she wasn’t there, but she couldn’t for the life of her understand why it mattered that she be there. Perhaps it didn’t. Perhaps his choices of days merely fit better in his schedule. After all, what could a former rock-star possibly want with an admittedly boring University student who spent her free time working in a library of all places. She loved it, but even she wouldn’t exactly claim it to be exciting. And rock-stars liked exciting things didn’t they?

Nevertheless, Lachlan showed up twice a week. Every Monday he signed out a book on music history. Every Friday he returned that book and took out a Western which he would return the following Monday. And he was never just in-and-out. Every time he came in he would chat to her for a few minutes as he slid his latest book into the return box, disappear for a short while to find another book, and then return to talk some more as she signed it out for him.

They talked about everything she could think of. The history she was studying at University, what he’d been doing in America for fifteen years, which led into a discussion about food and cooking - after which he had begun to bring a new recipe with him every day he came to the library - she’d even asked about the music he had played when he was younger and he was kind enough to tell her about it, though she wisely kept away from asking about his brother. Belle was amazed that he seemed so interested in her and to be honest she was surprised by how interesting he was to her as well. But she had truly come to value his friendship and she was thankful for it, even if she did have to fight off dreams about him that were getting steadily more intimate.

While he seemed to enjoy talking to her, Belle was absolutely aware that someone like him could never be interested in someone like her. It wasn’t that there was anything particularly wrong with her, but he was so much older, so much more mature than she was. He had seen so much, she couldn’t possibly compare to his experiences. And pretty as she might be there was no way she was the sort of beautiful that rock-stars were interested in. She was content to hold him as a rather dear friend. But he wasn’t making it easy.

The man was pure sin when he wanted to be and, it seemed, when he didn’t even notice. Because there was no reason for him to try to seduce her, but he always looked so good, especially when he smiled at her - which was often - and he was so kind and genuinely a pleasure to talk to. And when he lowered his voice to talk to her, as if their conversation was private regardless of what it was they talked about, butterflies filled her stomach and her entire body clenched, heat sweeping over her. She wanted him more than she could ever remember wanting anything. But she wasn’t the sort of person he wanted or needed in his life. He had a teenage daughter for goodness’ sake, what good could she do him?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been nice, getting to know Lachlan; at this point he surpassed even Tony as a friend. But she had to pull back. She was too attached. Being around him hurt now that she had to constantly remind herself that nothing was going to happen between them. She knew she had to start distancing herself.

So it rather threw her off when he showed up at the library on Wednesday - a day she didn’t normally work, a shift she had picked up so that a friend could see the play her boyfriend was starring in. Perhaps he visited on other days after all and no one had bothered to mention it. He smiled widely as he came over to her, no books in hand. Perhaps not, then.

“Come to dinner wi’ me.”

Belle stood, stunned for a moment, fighting the urge to look behind her. Of course there was no one else behind her, but he couldn’t possibly be talking to her, could he? But he was definitely looking at her. His gaze dark and heavy and intense. Piercing. She gulped but he just continued to stare.

“Me?” It was a stupid question, of course, but she couldn’t help it. He was Lachlan MacAldonich, and even if she hadn’t known who that was until a few months ago, plenty of other people did. And she was just Belle French. He couldn’t possibly mean to ask her to dinner. Perhaps he just meant as friends. But the heat in his eyes suggested she was wrong about that. But how could he want her?

He grinned lopsidedly. “Aye. You.” His voice was in that low register he used around her so often. Perhaps he did know how much it affected her. “I’ll make it myself and serve it tae ye in my own home if it’ll make ye say yes.”

Belle could feel the blush burning across her face. “Are you sure?”

He chuckled. “Aye lass. I’ve no’ been so sure o’ somethin’ in a long time.” He grabbed a piece of paper and pen from her desk and scribbled for a moment before grabbing her hand and pressing his lips to her knuckles, just the same as he had when she first met him - or perhaps a bit longer this time. “Tomorrow night. Eight o’clock. Say ye’ll come.”

Belle nodded slowly. He grinned and kissed her knuckles again before rushing out of the library. When she looked down she saw that the piece of paper held a phone number - which he had labelled ‘Mobile’ - and an address. She sat down hard on her stool. 

Lachlan MacAldonich had just invited her to dinner. At his house. All but begged her to come. She took out her phone and added his contact information before opening a text to him.

“So. What are we having?”

She stared at the message for a few seconds before taking a deep breath and hitting ‘Send’.


End file.
